The Game
by critterlady
Summary: Tamara has a little fun at the guy's expense. Includes all Avengers. I own nothing but Tamara and her life. Just a one-shot.


Tamara was bored, that was her problem. She was sitting in the commons waiting for her next class but she was bored. Checking her watch, she saw she still had 20 minutes until she had to leave to make her next class. She tucked her books away and pulled out her sketchpad, looking for an interesting subject and found a young couple, cuddled together studying. Taking out her pencils, she slowly began to rough in the scene around them. Then she moved onto the couple themselves, quickly filling in the basics and putting small touches of color to jar her memory later. When she heard footsteps behind her, she didn't even bother to look up from her sketchpad. She knew the sound of Happy's footsteps anywhere and wondered yet again why Tony insisted he accompany her to the college every day. Sure, she still limped when she got tired but working out with Tasha daily was taking care of that.

"What's up Happy?"

"The boss asked me to remind you of the party tonight, soon as your class is over, I'm to take you to meet Pepper to get a nice dress."

"You know I don't really want to go, I hate company functions."

"I know but if you're gonna play the part of Pepper's younger cousin, then you have to show up at these things."

"Fine, it'll give me a chance to try out some stuff from class. I want you to sit in today, help me come up with something Tony won't recognize. We're gonna use the computers to design characters today. Besides, it's better than sitting in the hall, bring a book or something."

Happy just shook his head but picked up her bag as she limped off to her next class. Happy was the only one who knew all the classes she was taking, the others just assumed she was aiming for a degree in nursing. Since the next class was on the other side of campus, she joined Happy in the car. Today, she had costuming and makeup classes and she had been working on a new look that she was sure Tony wouldn't see through. She figured Tasha would know her but keep quiet, it could be like a game to both of them. As for the rest of the guys, once she picked up the dress to match the persona she had created, she doubted they'd look at her face first.

Once they reached the theater building, Tamara let Happy grab her makeup kit and supplies. As she limped into the building, she noticed a couple of other kids from her class already in the classroom. She chose a computer as Happy pulled up a nearby chair. All her instructors knew that she had been paralyzed for a while and that Happy was there to assist her if she needed help, so nothing was said. Happy watched as she pulled up a computer program and began to show him different personas she had created. She would have to use makeup to alter the appearance of her facial structure but that wasn't impossible.

"Hey Happy, what about eye color and hair color, I've got colored contacts in a whole range of shades and hair color is easy."

"Surprise me, but I know Tony gets a kick out of accents."

Tamara thought for a minute, then pulled up an image, changing the hair color to a rich red and the eyes to a soft green. "Happy, meet Moira McCleod, think this will fool them? And I have the perfect dress for her. Course I will need to add some extensions."

Happy looked at Tamara, then at the image on the screen. "You'll have to tell Pepper of course, she'll get as much fun out of it as Natasha will."

Tamara studied the image, then motioned to one of the few guys in the class. "Hey Brian, you wanted a chance to practice extensions and coloring, right? Think you can handle this job? My cousin has a function I have to attend tonight but I want to see if I can fool some friends when I show up."

The young man in question came and studied the image. "Sure, take a couple hours though, and Amanda can style your hair, going for a Scottish look?"

Tamara laughed, "Yeah, figured it'd be good to practice on me before we need to do it for the play. Can we meet at your mom's salon around 6?"

"Sure, mom won't mind if I tell her it's practice for class. Let me give you some freckles as well, just a light sprinkle."

"Why not, this'll be fun, Happy can bring me by and I'll get dressed there."

After class, Tamara met Pepper at a local formals store. She told Pepper what she wanted to do and showed her the dress she had picked out. When she gave Pepper a taste of her accent though, she lost it.

"That's good, Tony will never recognize you. I know Tasha will but we can make a bet out of this. We need to make sure JARVIS knows not to reveal you to the guys, and supply any information you need to make yourself believable. Once you arrive, the three of us will meet so Tasha can get a good look at you."

"Thanks Pepper, this'll be so much more fun. I gotta meet friends tonight to get my hair done, but right now I need to get back to the tower to pick up a few accessories."

Pepper returned to SI and Happy took Tamara back to the tower to drop off her books. Then she went down to the greenhouse and locked herself in for a bit but asked JARVIS to send Tasha down to see her. It was only a few minutes later that Tasha knocked on the door and then entered the room.

"Hey, JARVIS said you were looking for me."

"Tasha, wanna have some fun with the guys tonight? Pepper's in and I just need to know if you're in too."

"Sure, long as nobody gets hurt, well not much."

Tamara then explained to Tasha that she wanted to see if the guys would recognize her in disguise. "Some of the other kids in my classes want to practice makeup before the play rehearsals start, so I volunteered. It'll be fun and all that will get hurt is their egos. I'm going to get my hair done beforehand so no one will see me except Happy. Stick with Pepper though and she'll tell you when I get there, she's seen the dress."

"I've got a better idea, JARVIS can you connect us with Pepper, secure channel please."

It only took a minute before Pepper was on the computer screen in front of them. They could see Tony in the background so Tasha mimed at Pepper to put in a comm. Once that was done, they could talk freely to Pepper, although she couldn't respond since Tony was in the room. Tasha was the one to set up the terms of the bet.

"OK, first, JARVIS will monitor us on a secure channel so we can chat. Pepper since Tony is there right now, just nod yes or no as to who will recognize Tamara tonight."

Pepper interrupted, "nope, not a one" as she glanced at Tony.

Tasha was more optimistic though, "I bet Clint recognizes you, he's very observant."

Tamara objected to that, "Wait, let's set a 2 hour time limit. And I don't think any of them will recognize me, we'll have JARVIS start the time when I encounter the first one. Also, I bet that even if we have JARVIS tell them I'm there in disguise the only one who will recognize me is Clint. But we wait until the second hour to tell them."

Once the three women agreed upon the rules, Pepper left the call and Tamara picked up a small bag. She offered Tasha a smile as they left the room. Checking the time, she realized she needed to leave in order to get to the salon. Tamara ducked into the lab and picked up a small comm unit and dropped it into her pocket. She'd helped Tony field test them and knew they had a range of several miles and were not noticeable at all.

Tamara met Happy in the garage and he drove her to a small salon where he read while she had her hair extensions added, temporary coloring added and styling finished. Brian then studied her for a few minutes before creating a light sprinkle of freckles across her cheeks and nose. Tamara applied her makeup and then added contacts to change her eye color. Once that was done, she slipped into the back of the salon to change into her dress. Even Happy couldn't believe it was Tamara standing in front of him. She thanked her friends for their help and left to join Happy in the car.

Once she got in the car, she slipped the comm unit behind her ear and then opened a small jewelry box. She pulled out a fragile looking necklace and bracelets and carefully added them to her outfit. She then took out a couple of small knives and tucked them into a holster hidden on one leg while a small gun was added to the other. Happy just chuckled but didn't say anything, he knew she never went out unless she was armed, Tasha wouldn't allow it. She finally slipped on a set of heels that added 2 inches to help disguise her height. Happy took her to the hotel for the party and escorted her inside, then he left to return to the tower. He knew Tony would contact him when everyone was ready to leave.

Tamara took a deep breath as Happy left and entered the ballroom. She glanced around and quickly located the other residents of the tower. Tasha and Pepper were chatting together while Tony hovered nearby with Bruce, most likely discussing some new project of his. Thor, Steve and Clint were surrounded by admiring young women and all three looked slightly uncomfortable.

She decided that Bruce and Tony would be her first targets for the night, so she walked over to join them.

"Miss Potts, this is a lovely party tonight. A real pleasure to finally meet you, I'm Moira McCleod."

Pepper's eyes widened slightly and Tasha noticed but thankfully Tony was behind her. However, when he noticed the beautiful young woman who had joined Pepper, he couldn't resist introducing himself. Grabbing Bruce's arm, he dragged him over to interrupt the conservation.

"That's a lovely accent, where are you from?" Tony put his arm around Pepper but he couldn't resist flirting.

"I'm from Inverness Scotland originally. But I've been here in New York a few months going to school."

Pepper wanted to see what kind of story Tamara had come up with, so she decided to push the game. "So Miss McCleod, you're a college student?"

"Yes Ma'am, I'm getting my basic courses out of the way while I wait for acceptance to med school. One of the foundations benefiting from this event sponsored an essay contest. I submitted a paper proving the validity of some herbs used in healing back home for hundreds of years. Of course, most pharmaceutical companies will try to quash results like that, but I heard that Stark Industries was different."

Tony had pulled out a pad and soon had pulled up a paper covering herbs and their uses in Scottish culture. Of course, he didn't know that Tamara was the one who had actually written the paper and that she had only created the character of Moira so that people would see the work and not just the name. Tony passed the pad over the Bruce who browsed it and then had JARVIS save it to study later. Tamara took that opportunity to try and duck away but Tasha stopped her.

"You know, I have some friends you really must meet." Tasha took her arm and began to lead her away from Bruce and Tony. Once they had gotten about halfway to the rest of the team, she turned to Tamara.

"You look fabulous and I love the look on Tony's face when he saw you. I'm just glad Pepper warned me what name you were using or I might have blown the game. I can't wait to see how the other guys react, but I still bet Clint recognizes you before the game is over."

Tamara giggled, "I hope not, I'm having a blast. I finally get to practice flirting but I know I'm safe. Tasha, can I ask you something seriously?"

"Yeah sure."

"How did you know when you cared for Clint as more than a friend? There's a guy I know and I really like him but how do I know it's real and not just a crush?"

Tasha decided that maybe they needed a few more minutes and more advice so she had JARVIS send Pepper to meet them in the ladies room. When Pepper arrived, she was confused at first.

"Pepper, Tamara needs guy advice. She just asked me about my feelings for Clint. Looks like our little sister is growing up."

"Tamara, have you even kissed a guy? And Steve kissing you at Christmas doesn't count."

"No, but there is a guy at the college I really like, I just don't know if its a crush or what, how do you know when it's real?"

Pepper studied her for just a minute, then gave her a gentle hug. "You've got plenty of time to figure that out. Get to be his friend first, that's the only reason I can put up with some of the shit Tony puts me through. Don't force things either, it'll happen or it won't, but don't let fear of his reaction stop you from taking a chance, you never know, he might like you too. Now, go tease the others and in 15 minutes we get to tell them the game. We can argue about prizes with them later."

"Thanks, both of you. If I can fool the guys, then this will be worth it."

All three ladies left the restroom and headed back to join the guys. Pepper wasn't surprised to see that Tony and Bruce had joined the others and she asked JARVIS if either of them had seemed to recognize Tamara. When JARVIS confirmed that neither had said anything, the trio of women were pleased.

As they joined the men, Tamara liked the admiring glances she got. Tasha made her way over to Clint and gave him a slight poke when he seemed to be staring too long. Of course, he didn't know who she really was and she was sure he'd apologize later. Thor and Steve were both all charm as Pepper introduced her to them. As they made small talk about the party, Pepper and Tasha both decided they wanted to dance. That left Tamara alone with Bruce, Thor and Steve. She glanced at the dance floor, watching as Pepper leaned on Tony and wished it were her on the dance floor.

She was about to walk away when Steve reached his hand out to her. "I'm not much of a dancer but you look like you want to be out there too, may I?"

Tamara was too shocked to say anything so she just nodded as Steve took her hand and led her out to the dance floor. "Thank you, I've never danced with anyone like this before."

Steve smiled down at her "Neither have I, to be honest, it was suggested that I ask you to dance but I don't regret it. You're very light on your feet, and very beautiful, I bet you have guys falling all over you."

Tamara couldn't help but laugh a little, she wondered if it had been Pepper or Tasha who made the suggestion. "Thank you, but there's only one guy I'm interested in having fall over me, sometimes I feel like part of the scenery around him, like he doesn't even notice me."

"Maybe he does but he's too shy to say anything, some guys are like that, they don't think a beautiful woman could care about them so they either act like a jerk to her or never get the courage to say how the feel."

Tamara blushed, "Mr. Stark seems to fall into the acting like a jerk category, or he did, from what I heard."

Steve laughed and Tamara loved it. "Yeah, he did, but almost dying changes you. It was only after Manhattan that Tony finally told Pepper how he felt about her."

As the song ended, she followed Steve back to the table where the others had settled. As Steve pulled out a chair for her, she was relieved for the chance to sit down. Her leg was beginning to ache and she knew she had to avoid limping or the guys would know what was up. She took a sip of water as Tasha began to speak.

"Guys, Pepper and I have a confession to make. Tamara is here already and in fact, you've all seen her tonight. The three of us have a bet going that none of you will recognize her. You have 1 hour before she reveals herself, you game, or will you admit defeat now? Rules are simple, JARVIS knows who she is but won't give you any information, so forget trying facial recognition Tony. If you think you figure out who she is, then simply tell me or Pepper but don't give it away to the others. Those who do guess correctly get a prize, to be determined later, from those who don't. Tamara is automatically included in the winners, as long as at least 1 person doesn't recognize her. One final rule, if anything interrupts the party before the hour is up, then game over."

All five men were intrigued and agreed to the bet. Tamara wandered off to meet a few other people and even danced with a couple of young men. As the hour wound down, she was surprised that not even Clint had recognized her. She heard Tony call Happy to come pick them up with only 10 minutes left for the guys to locate her. She decided to tease them a bit more so she wandered back over towards them to say goodnight, then turned to walk away. She heard Pepper tell the guys that Tamara would be in the car waiting for them and that by then, the game would have ended.

Tamara hurried out to meet Happy in the limo and climbed inside the front. Happy closed the door for her and he waited outside for the others to join them. Thanks to JARVIS, Tamara could hear the men all discussing various women they had met, trying to figure out which one was her. Happy had the privacy glass closed and Tamara waited to reveal herself. It only took a few minutes to return to the tower, by which time most of the men had agreed they had no idea who she was. Clint was the only one who was quiet and when pushed, he admitted he had an idea, but wanted to see for himself.

"I know she's hiding in the front so we'll all get out and see together."

The others climbed out of the car but before Clint did he turned to face Tasha and Pepper, just long enough to silently say "Moira" before climbing out himself. As the ladies joined them, Tasha decided to break the news.

"Clint got it right guys, sorry. Ask JARVIS if you don't believe me."

Clint didn't say anything but he did grin as he walked to the front door of the car. "C'mon out Tamara, or should I say Moira?"

The other four were all shocked when the person they thought was Moira McCleod climbed out of the front seat. She laughed and that's when they finally recognized her. "Clint, how did you figure it out and when?"

"Honestly, not until time was almost up. And only because you started limping. All these months living here together while you learned to walk again, well Tasha and I kinda became experts on your limp. We can tell how hard your workout was by how you limp afterwards. If not for the limp though, I'd never have known."

Still amazed at the how different Tamara looked, the other followed her into the elevator. Once they entered the living quarters, Tamara gladly slipped off her heels and let down her hair. Like the others, she slipped off to her room to change clothes, deciding on a shower first. Once she was clean and dry, she slipped into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before joining the others in the living room. She was the last to join the small group and saw that most of them already had coffee in hand. Steve and Bruce were the exception, the both had a cup of hot tea and she saw a third cup waiting for her.

She settled herself on the love-seat next to Steve and listened as everyone discussed the game. Tony was a little put off that he had flirted with her since he thought of her as family. Bruce wanted to know more about the paper and if she had really done all that research and when. Clint was impressed that she had managed to fool him for so long and Thor couldn't understand why she'd wanted to change her looks in the first place. Tamara told everyone she needed time to decide what she wanted as a prize but she was tired. As she headed off to bed, she heard the others still discussing how well she had managed to fool them all. She wasn't surprised when someone joined her but was surprised at who.

"So you wanna tell me or Pepper more about the guy that's got you wound up? Why is it so important that you want to change who you are?"

"Tasha, I just wondered, if I look different, will people treat me different? Do they see me for who I really am or do they see the girl with the famous cousin who limps around the college? People at the college think I'm really related to Pepper so they try to get close to me and I never know if they want to know me or if they think it'll get them closer to her. And if they knew I lived here with all of you, it'd be even worse."

"When we first brought you here, I didn't trust you. But then we found out what you had done for Clint and more about your family. And I still didn't trust you, not even after the others were willing to give you a chance. But you've proven you have a heart of gold, you're honest and loyal, and we can count on you. You've never tried to be super smart to get Bruce or Tony to like you but you listen to them and you talk to them about things you do understand. I didn't trust you until I realized that the only reason I was pushing you away was because you reminded me of myself. Don't change who you are for anyone, no guy is worth that."

Tasha gave Tamara a hug and walked back to join the others, leaving Tamara alone with her thoughts. Even though the next day was Saturday, she was used to waking early to spend time in the gym. What she didn't expect was for Pepper to be waiting for her.

"Pepper, I didn't expect to see you in here."

"Well, JARVIS told me you were coming here so I thought maybe we could have a chat about last night. I know what it's like to care for someone, only to have him think of you as just a friend. I can't give you any advice on knowing if you just have a crush on this guy or if it's more. But I know when I saw Tony flying that missile through the portal, I was afraid that I'd never see him again, and that my life would never be the same. For a few seconds, I pictured my life without him in it, and I wasn't happy at all, that's when I knew I loved him with all my heart. I just hope you can figure it out without coming close to losing him."

"I hope so. It's just, someday I want to have what my parents and grandparents had, someone to love me and my flaws."

Tamara and Pepper both looked up when they heard someone else enter the gym. As Tasha, Clint and Steve entered together, Pepper left and Tamara began her tai-chi exercises. After last night, her body was sore so she spent extra time stretching out before she began her daily workout with the others. Once they were done sparring, Tamara and Clint left for target practice. She still wasn't sure so she decided to get a guy's ideas on falling in love and Clint was the best one to ask.

"Clint, can I ask you about something, no jokes though."

"What?"

"How did you know you loved Tasha?"

"Wait, what?" Clint was just a little uncomfortable. "Wouldn't it be better to ask Pepper or Tasha for advice?"

"I did, but I want a guy's opinion and you're the best choice."

"Me, why me? Why not one of the others?"

"Well, Tony is a former playboy, Bruce avoids relationships, Thor would probably tell me to kick his ass and Steve is just too innocent to give advice on love."

"You've got a point there, I guess I realized she was more than a friend after she got me out from under Loki's control. She should have killed me but she didn't, she cared enough to try and save me. I tried to deny it, even succeeded for a few months, eventually I couldn't deny it any longer. Wanna tell me who he is, Tony will insist on a background check you know."

"Oh my god, you can't tell Tony. He won't let up until he finds out who it is. And I've already checked him out, all of you would approve of him. It's just..I don't know if he likes me as more than a friend. And I don't want to lose his friendship, it's better than not seeing him at all. Please Clint, you and Tasha and Pepper are the only ones who know, don't say anything."

Clint couldn't bear to hurt Tamara, she was another piece of his own family of misfits. "I won't, now, back to work."

The two spent another hour destroying targets before both decided to call it quits. Tasha smiled as the two of them came out, she'd started to join them earlier, until she heard them talking. Maybe the youngest member of their group would take a chance after all.


End file.
